Both those who were excited and those who were apprehensive at the prospects of an additional state in the South-East region of Nigeria, to be named Orlu, had no reason for such emotions. They behaved as though the proposed Orlu State, which the promoters said would be carved out of Imo, Anambra and Abia States, was a done deal. What they did not understand was that it was only a bill that still has a long and tortuous way to go with a very slim chance of success. But like those children whose father told of his plans to buy a bicycle, they started fighting each other over who would be the first to ride when they weren’t even sure their father had the means to buy the bicycle.
The lead sponsor of the bill for the creation of Orlu State, the lawmaker representing Ideato North/South Federal Constituency of Imo State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, may mean well, but even he knows that a camel would more easily pass through the eye of a needle than for his quest to succeed.
Nor is he the first to travel that path. The push for an additional state in the South-East – for the purpose of bringing the region at par with four other regions with six states each – has always surfaced at every opportunity. And the usual suspects – Adada, Njaba, Orashi, Etiti, and Igboezue. Each time, a buzz is created that leads nowhere. Anioma State, currently being pushed by no less a personality than billionaire Senator Ned Nwoko, is also not new. The confusion is whether Anioma State, if created, would be in the South-East or South-South, given that the areas making up the proposed state are in the South-South region.
Maybe when the South-East achieves its additional state, it would be time to join the other four regions to push for a seventh state in each region to balance up with the North-West which currently has seven states. But the reality is that the South-East won’t get an additional state except by some divine orchestration. State creation by constitutional means in Nigeria is a tall order.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) in Section 8 spells out the process of state creation. It says in subsection (1), “An Act of the National Assembly for the purpose of creating a new State shall only be passed if – (a) a request, supported by at least two-thirds majority of members (representing the area demanding the creation of the new State) in each of the following, namely – (i) the Senate and the House of Representatives, (ii) the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and (iii) the local government councils in respect of the area, is received by the National Assembly; (b) a proposal for the creation of the State is thereafter approved in a referendum by at least two-thirds majority of the people of the area where the demand for creation of the State originated; (c) the result of the referendum is then approved by a simple majority of all the States of the Federation supported by a simple majority of members of the Houses of Assembly; and (d) the proposal is approved by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of members of each House of the National Assembly.”
Boundary adjustment of any existing state also has to be by an Act of the National Assembly and follows much the same process as state creation. It goes all the way down to the creation of a new local government area and boundary adjustment at that level as well, which responsibility rests majorly with the House of Assembly.
This is why, apart from the Midwestern Region which was created out of the Western Region in 1963 through a referendum, all the state creation exercises since Nigeria’s independence in 1960 have been carried out by the military – Yakubu Gowon in 1967, Murtala Mohammed in 1976, Ibrahim Babangida in 1987 and 1991, and Sani Abacha in 1996.
In effect, Ugochinyere’s proposed Orlu State may well be a pipe dream, so those who felt insulted that they were not consulted before their localities were lumped into the proposed state should heave a sigh.
Oluigbo, poet and author, is the Acting Editor of The Nigerian Observer. He can be reached via [email protected].
